


Flowers are Blooming

by VenomQuill



Series: Undertale [12]
Category: Undertale
Genre: Bed of Golden Flowers, Gen, Post-Undertale Pacifist Route, Soulless Undertale Pacifist Route, probably???
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-17
Updated: 2019-10-17
Packaged: 2020-12-21 06:14:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21070214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VenomQuill/pseuds/VenomQuill
Summary: And the birds are singing. Finally, after all these years, monsters can once again feel the sun on their skin, scales, fur......well......most of them.





	Flowers are Blooming

**Author's Note:**

> Find it on dA: http://fav.me/ddihnp2

Booted feet crunched through a pile of red leaves. _Crunch, crunch, crunch, pat, pat, pat._ Footsteps, though quiet, echoed through the absolute silence of the hallway dwarfed by the ruins looming above.

The child walked through a doorway. Their fingers, marred by years of cuts and blisters and healing, slipped past the rough stone of the fluted pillar.

Light trickled into the vast, empty cavern from above. A small patch of grass sat unmoving, soaking up the meager light. It was so still, in fact, it could be imagined as fake. But they knew better. There was no wind so deep underground. They paused, their toes inches away from the grass. Their deep brown eyes glazed over the room. Shadows engulfed the cavern. It’s suffocating darkness crept up on them. But, as they felt the sunlight on their head, they felt no fear. Even the greatest, coldest darkness could be banished by the smallest ray of light.

Frisk continued to move. Their feet passed over uneven stone as they entered another doorway. More light trickled in, this time from the end of the tunnel.

Frisk made their way through the suffocating dark until they were in it no more. A room, small but wide, lay before them. A bed of golden flowers bloomed in the heavy rays of light blazing through the hole in the ceiling so high, high up. Standing before them, fuzzy head bowed, was a friend.

Frisk called the name of a kid they’d known for perhaps an hour, with most of those minutes spent fighting for their SOUL. “Asriel.”

The kid’s head turned a little. His deep maroon eyes, a mirror of his mother’s, gazed back at them. “Don’t worry about me,” he said, his voice soft and untouched by any form of puberty. He turned back to the grave. “Someone has to take care of these flowers.”

Frisk approached, walking until their purple and blue banded sweater nearly touched Asriel’s gold and green banded one.

“Frisk, please leave me alone,” Asriel stated, looking into Frisk’s soft gaze. “I can’t come back. I just can’t, OK?” When Frisk still didn’t leave, he continued, “I don’t want to break their hearts all over again.” He smiled, his eyes squinted to conceal the possibility of tears. “It’s better if they never see me.” He paused, noting Frisk’s unwavering gaze. “…why are you still here? Are you trying to keep me company?”

Frisk nodded. “Yeah.”

Asriel grinned. “Frisk…” He hesitated. “Let me ask you a question. Frisk… why did you come here?”

“For you, duh,” Frisk puffed.

Asriel chuckled a little at this and shook his head. “Everyone knows the legends, right?” Frisk’s heart sank. Asriel continued, unnoticing Frisk’s enthusiasm wavering. “‘Travelers who climb Mt. Ebott are said to disappear.’” He paused again. “Frisk… why would you ever climb a mountain like that? Was it foolishness? Was it fate?” Asriel’s expression fell. “Or was it… because you…?”

Frisk contemplated on what answer they would give Asriel. After all, it changed for each person that had asked. At least the monsters never asked them. Though, that was a little weird now that they thought about it.

Before the silence could span too long between them, Asriel went on, smiling once again, “Well. Only you know the answer, don’t you…?”

Asriel looked at the flowers again. “I know why Chara climbed the mountain.” Chara blinked and then crossed their arms and glared into the shadows. “It wasn’t for a very happy reason.” Asriel’s expression fell and he stood up straight so that any sense of kind lightness or sadness was gone and replaced by dead seriousness. “Frisk. I’ll be honest with you. Chara hated humanity.” A smile flitted across his face as if the phrase was some sad joke. “Why they did, they never talked about it.” Chara’s glare softened a little but did not stray. Asriel said, “But they felt very strongly about that.”

Asriel looked at the flowers again, as if asking them for permission to keep talking. “Frisk… you really _are_ different from Chara.” Now Frisk and Chara mirrored looks of confusion. Asriel smiled, as if the memory he was recalling was fond. “In fact, though you have similar, uh, fashion choices… I don’t know why I ever acted as you were the same person. Maybe… the truth is…” Asriel hesitated, his smile falling. “Chara wasn’t really the greatest person.” Chara’s expression fell and, for the slightest moment, Frisk could see the betrayal they held. But, within a fraction of a second, the look was gone. In fact, Frisk couldn’t see anything but the fake, dull eyed smile Chara wore when Frisk stumbled into a fight with any of the Dreemurrs, and even through most of Frisk’s murder spree.

“While Frisk…” Asriel went on, oblivious to anything amiss, smiling as if Frisk was an old friend he was meeting after a long time of separation. “You’re the type of friend I wish I always had.” Frisk smiled, though it was rather hard with the secondhand guilt gnawing at them. “So maybe I was kind of projecting a little bit.” Frisk tipped their head from side to side a few times. Yeah, they could see that. Flowey wasn’t in a good frame of mind at any point in time. “Let’s be honest. I did some weird stuff as a flower.”

Frisk laughed. “Weird stuff.” Of all the word choices… this kid was weird. That was definite.

Asriel became serious again, prompting Frisk to match his expression. “There’s one last thing I want to tell you. Frisk, when Chara and I combined our SOULS together, the control over our body was actually split between us. They were the one who picked up their own empty body. And then, when we got to the village… they were the one that wanted to…” Asriel’s face screwed up again, as if the memory was something as fresh and recent as Asriel’s repetitive murdering of Frisk. “…to use our full power.” Chara nodded, as if confirming a fact Frisk would have a difficult time believing from anyone but the source. “I was the one that resisted.” He smiled again, a bittersweet thing Frisk was acquainted with. “And then, because of me, we… well, that’s why I ended up a flower.”

Asriel looked at the buttercups again. “Frisk,” he said with a renewed strength. “This whole time, I’ve blamed myself for that decision. That’s why I adopted that horrible view of the world. ‘Kill or be killed.’” Asriel smiled and, suddenly, all the seriousness and negativity fell away. “But now… after meeting you… Frisk, I don’t regret that decision anymore.” He nodded, a look of determination overcoming him. “I did the right thing. If I had killed those humans… We would have had to wage war against all of humanity.”

_“They’d have done it anyway,”_ Frisk thought bitterly, but did not speak.

Asriel chuckled. “And, in the end, everyone went free, right? I still feel kind of sad knowing how long it took. So… maybe it wasn’t a perfect decision.” He shrugged. “But you can’t regret hard choices your whole life, right? Well, not that I have much of a life left. But that’s besides the point.”

Frisk puffed. What the heck _was_ this kid? A fresh anger burned inside of them. Those damned humans that killed Asriel and Chara were _so_ lucky they were already long dead.

“Frisk,” Asriel began again, smiling as if he hadn’t just thrown a verbal grenade at Frisk. “You should really go back and be with your friends, okay? Oh, and please… in the future, if you, uh, see me… don’t think of it as me, OK? I just want you to remember me like this. Someone that was your friend for a little while.” He became serious again. “Oh, and Frisk… be careful in the outside world, okay? Despite what everyone thinks, it’s not as nice as it is here. There are a lot of Floweys out there. And not everything can be resolved by just being nice.”

Asriel smiled again. “Frisk, don’t kill and don’t be killed, alright? That’s the best you can strive for. Well, see you.” With that, he turned back to the bed of golden flowers.

Frisk moved a little, attempting to meet Asriel’s gaze again. The boy looked at them. “Frisk… don’t you have anything better to do?”

Ah, yes. They remembered that line. Flowey used it on them after being killed by him for the dozenth time, probably. Frisk had lost count by that death.

Frisk sighed and looked to Chara, who watched them both with that same weird, unmovable expression. Frisk didn’t need that, though, to feel the heartbreak. Though, that was probably them, too. Maybe they were projecting. Ah, well.

Frisk moved back and sat down again. They held up the locket around their neck. It shifted from red to green to blue to red again. Heh. Even their mood-necklace couldn’t understand them. They looked up, but Asriel wasn’t paying attention to them.

_“Yeah. Yeah, I get it. Maybe. Just… do they still remember what happened because of me? Are Undyne and Alphys a thing? Did Alphys release those amalgamates?”_ Frisk had asked, their voice a little shaky and a wheeze caught in their throat, not just from their sprint but the blank, confused expressions on their friends’ faces.

_“The consequences of your actions are still here,” _Asriel had admitted._ “But… no one remembers who, exactly, did them. Maybe they think that they did them themselves. I’m sorry, Frisk. I can’t help you.”_

_“I… I get it. Yeah. They’re, um… they’re probably going to the surface by now.”_

_“I’m not going to be here much longer. Soon I’ll turn back into a flower.”_

_“And no one will remember what you did. I just… I’ll stay here a while longer, okay?”_

_“Sure thing, Frisk.”_

Frisk dropped their locket. This wasn’t fair. Frisk didn’t deserve such kindness. This wasn’t the first time they had appeared on these flowers. Yet, as the kid looked at them, Frisk saw only kindness.

_“Don’t.”_

Frisk blinked and looked up at Chara, who stood beside them. Their weird expression hadn’t changed.

_“Don’t tell him.”_

“Why not?” Frisk mouthed.

_“He is not Flowey. Don’t you dare treat him like Flowey, like you can tell him whatever you want. He loves you.”_

Frisk gave them a flat look. _“I know that. I wasn’t treating him like Flowey.”_

_“He does not want to know what you did, Frisk. He thinks you are a good person. If he knew what you did, he would know what _he_ did. What sort of creature he was that would encourage you? Who would kill his own father out of cowardice?”_

_“He probably thinks that, anyway.”_

Chara’s eyes narrowed and their smile widened. _“Asriel is not Flowey. He is an innocent child. Do not bring him into Flowey’s mess because you want to be selfish.”_

Frisk bristled at this. “Selfish?” they hissed, their voice hardly a whisper. “I’m not being selfish! I’m not a selfish person!”

_“Then don’t tell him,”_ Chara stated. _“Tell Flowey, not Asriel.”_

Frisk squared their shoulders. “Then maybe I’ll wait here until then.”

_“Fine. You can do that.”_ Chara crossed their arms. _“But I will not allow you to break his heart. He is hurt enough as it is. I hurt him enough as it is. He does not need another friend to twist the knife.”_

“Yeah, another friend to twist the knife,” Frisk shot back snidely, unable to sort out their thoughts. “You would know that. You killed him.”

Chara scrunched their nose. They took a deep breath and said, _“I just said that, Frisk.”_

Frisk started to speak, but they glanced at Asriel and stopped. Asriel watched them curiously. “Who are you talking to, Frisk?”

“Would you accept ‘myself’ as an answer?” Frisk prompted, smirking.

Asriel blinked and furrowed his eyebrows. “No, I don’t think I would.”

Frisk pouted. “Why do you have to be so observant now?”

Asriel cocked his head. “What do you–?”

“Never mind,” Frisk cut him off. “I’m just talking to a friend.”

“Do humans have invisible friends on the surface?” Asriel asked.

Frisk knew the question was innocent enough, made by a kid who didn’t know the culture above his head or those who inhabited it. Still, Frisk couldn’t help but laugh. “Invisible…! I’m sorry!” Frisk finally managed to choke out. “Sorry, sorry. Not making fun of you. Aw, I remember when other kids asked me that.” Frisk couldn’t help another chuckle, though this one was a little forced. “Anyway, no. Most humans don’t. I met this one Underground. Didn’t say anything about knowing… you.”

Asriel thought for a moment. “So, they’re not Napstablook? Or any kind of ghost?”

“Nope. Just a friend I met down here. They helped me discover who I really am. Maybe they’re just part of my imagination. Who knows, right?” Frisk laughed again, quiet this time.

“Um… okay. W-well, everyone might be wondering where you went,” Asriel ventured.

Frisk pushed themselves up. “Probably. Bye, Asriel. Maybe when I die, we’ll get to see everyone, right? Heh.” They left before Asriel could question them.

As Frisk passed through the empty cavern, they said, “You’re right, you know. I’m sorry for getting mad at you.”

_“…it is understandable,”_ Chara admitted.

“Not really,” Frisk stated. “I’m the one who did that, not out of hurt or self-defense, but out of curiosity and my own stupidity. You didn’t help, but, then again, who did?” They sighed. “Papyrus. God dammit.” Frisk stopped in front of the golden sparkle hovering before them. “Better not keep them waiting.”

**Author's Note:**

> *cough* So, do you ever wonder a world where everything's the same, except no one knows what you did?  
They remember.  
They won't let you forget.
> 
> Ah, yes. More angst. Haha This is set pretty much five minutes before ["Everything is Right in the Underground... Until the 4000 Sequels"](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16636976) with heavy references to a few other fanfics I made and have yet to make concerning canon Undertale.
> 
> So far, the classic Undertale fanfics are all from the same timeline(s). Except, in the fanfic "In a World Where No One Remembers You" where I kinda portrayed Chara as a little bit evil, which I did way back when I thought they were evil. But then I realized that, yo, that was probably just me projecting like Flowey. Haha
> 
> Also, I'm still working on the 100 Themes, and the classic Undertale in THAT will also be canon to this timeline. In fact, most of my Undertale fanfictions will have the same timeline as any classic or AU they share with ONE exception thus far... "Blooms in the Dark" and "The Flowers from Her Village."
> 
> Gravity Falls has no such luxury. lol WITH ONE EXCEPTION, HOWEVER! The "Gravity Trails" AU will always follow the same canon. _Always._ I mean, seriously. Always. Every fic I write with "Gravity Trails" in it is the same deer, the same ravens, the same cat. Time and space means nothing to them. They'll help Stanley, Stanford, and Fiddleford in Gravity Falls in 1982, Mabel and Dipper in Monsterstuck from 2012-1980, Stanford in Camp Relativity in 2012, and on and on. In fact, due to the relaxed nature of the AU, it can easily be transferred into a sort of "Undertrails" or "Trailtale" for Undertale. "Elder Trail" or "Trail Scrolls" for The Elder Scrolls? Evolved Trail for Evolve? I dunno. Haha
> 
> *cough* Anyway, carry on with your day. Anyone who watches me for Gravity Falls probably doesn't read my Undertale works. :,) Haha


End file.
